Interview with Burlap to Cashmere

How one band participates in the Roaring Lambs movement

How did your involvement in the project come about? Were you familiar already with Briner's book, and to the Roaring Lamb model he sets up?

Steve Taylor asked us if we would be involved in the project. Until then we had never heard of or were familiar with Briner's book. When Steve Taylor explained it to us we were very honored to be apart of it. The Roaring lamb model that Briner sets up is what we hope to achieve one day.

"Roaring Lambs" was meant as a challenge to Christians. Where does your song on the CD, "Daisies and Roses" fit in?

It is about how we felt when we went to Saudia Arabia to play for the soldiers. The whole trip was a challenge because we were in a country where you couldn't speak about your faith. We had to sign death-penalty notices before entering the country stating we would not bring in any kind of Christianity. Guess you could say that we had to tell a white lie because all we sang about was God.

"Daisies and Roses" came out of that experience. The challenge was trusting in God and going forth into a country where we knew we weren't welcome but we were granted the victory for facing up to the challenge."

Is there a musician who you would like to have seen on a compilation like this, maybe who has been a "roaring lamb" to you?

Yes, we think that the community is blind to a lot of roaring lambs. We'd like to see Sting on a compilation like this

Who are your listeners? Christian, non-Christian, or some combination of the two?They started out as non-Christian, because we were mainly playing in clubs. But the more we played at the festivals, the audience changed. The crowd is made up [according to] what kind of venue we play at, half and half. We would like to attract all kinds of people because that is what our music is about. We try not to let it be caught in a small box.Does the secular realm trust Christian artists, the ones who surface occasionally in pop music?

We think that the only reason that the secular realm doesn't trust the Christian artists is because they won't let themselves experience it. They are programmed into thinking that Christian and corny go hand in hand. Most people are anti-corny. But we have found that once the secular world gives it a chance, and if it has a mainstream sound to it, they are more than likely to accept it.